It is important to know how world news intersects with the Down syndrome world. We must be informed about how society portrays and perceives or children both on the national and international scene. Here at Club 21 we need your help to stay up to date with news that relates to our Down syndrome community.
If you see an article, hear a story, or watch a news clip that you think others need to know about, please send a link to stories@clubtwentyone.org.
people with down syndrome in the news
Write to Senators Harkin and Specter Now!
from National Down Syndrome Congress
Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was awarded $10 billion in stimulus funding from Congress. NIH will decide how to spend most of this money between now and June. While some of this funding has been dedicated to other disabling conditions, to date NIH has not been willing to dedicate funding to Down syndrome research...(read more)
Urge Your Members of Congress to Include Long Term Services and Supports in Health Care Reform
from National Down Syndrome Congress
One of the most urgent issues for individuals with disabilities is the lack of long-term supports and services for adults. There is currently no mandate for community-based supports that individuals need to live and work in the community. As Congress considers a health care reform bill, it is critical that they consider meeting the needs of the many citizens with disabilities who want to have the same opportunities to live and work in the community as their non-disabled peers. However, strong advocacy efforts are needed to ensure that long term services and supports are addressed as part of health care reform...(read more)
A Special Bond
from Citizen Patriot
Moneta Harr
Today Alex and Alexis DeNato celebrate their first wedding anniversary. It is a love story made even more so because the couple have Down syndrome....(read more)
Amazing Success Story
from Windsor Star
Craig Pearson
Andrew Banar brings special meaning to the term Rock On. Though he has only just turned 18, the Grade 12 Cardinal Carter student and drumming enthusiast has launched a surprisingly successful T-shirt company — made all the more impressive given that Andrew has Down syndrome...(read more)
He Does Belong
from MN Post-Bulletin
When Trevor walks, he pushes off with his left foot to compensate for a weaker, less developed right leg. But rather than coming across as a limp, his walk gives Trevor a certain swagger, confidence and determination. Trevor's personality and social skills have the same effect, overshadowing the fact that Trevor has Down Syndrome. Trevor strolls down the hallway as students and teachers greet him with a simple "Hi, Trevor" or "Hey, Trevor."...(read more)
Baseball Just One Part of Pujol's Life
from Courier Press
Albert Pujols is considered by many to be the best player in baseball. However, he regards his talent as subordinate to what is really important. "Doing things to touch lives is very important to me," said Pujols, who started the Pujols Family Foundation in 2005, which is dedicated to the love, care and development of people with Down syndrome....(read more)
Girl With Down Syndrome to Light State Tree
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver will kick-off the holiday season
with the 77th annual State Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the West Steps of the
State Capitol. Michaela Tritch, of the Los Angeles community of Eagle Rock, has been selected to participate in the 2008 State Capitol Tree Lighting Ceremony on Dec. 9. Representing the more than 230,000 children and adults served by the Department of Developmental Services, Michaela will help the governor light the tree, decorated with 1,500 ornaments created by Californians with developmental disabilities...(read more)
Homecoming Queen Crowned
from Dallas Morning News
Michael Young
Never has the selection of a homecoming queen sent so many tears falling so freely. Kristin Pass, an 18-year-old senior with Down syndrome, became Aledo High School's homecoming queen Friday, October 10, to a joyous standing ovation and the flutter of a thousand tissues on a remarkable night for an amazing young woman... (read more)
Cuts to Home Healthcare Providers in CA
from ABC News
A different health issue plaguing Fresno County isn't illness but the pay cut facing its in home health care providers on July 1st. And it had many of those workers packed into the Hall of Records for the Board of Supervisors meeting in late April.... (read more)
Emotions Illustrated Vividly
from cnn.com
It took Shennen Bersani a month to decide whether to illustrate the book My Sister Alicia May. "I thought if I take this on, it will bring up all the emotional stuff," Bersani said. But she chose to do it, she said, because she knew "no one will be able to do it the way I can." Shennen's only sister, Holly has Down syndrome...(read more)
Prom King Goes to College
from cnn.com
Elizabeth Landau
Zach Wincet's mother, Marget, didn't know her son would have Down Syndrome until after he was born. "Sometimes you're scared as a parent, and you wonder if your child is going to be able to do this and this and this," Wincent said recently. "And you know what? You just go out and try it, and you live each day at a time, and you celebrate all the great things that happen." The genetic disorder, which causes intellectual disabilities and other difficulties, has not prevented "Zach Attack" from enrolling in community college, climbing the Great Wall of China, coaching hockey games or becoming Prom king in high school... (read more)
University of Denver to Study Education of Children with Down Syndrome
from CBS News
Karen Riley, assistant professor of Child, Family and School Psychology at the University of Denver, is the principal investigator in a first-of-its-kind study at the University of Denver that will look at two early literacy intervention approaches to educating children with Down Syndrome... (read more)
Film Director with Down Syndrome
from The World Today, an Australian radio program on abc.net.au
Its producers say it is the first Australian film to be written and directed by a person with Down syndrome. The filmmaker - Rachel High - is a graduate of a program where students with a disability attend lectures at mainstream universities. Her film premiered in an Adelaide cinema this week... (read more)
Inspirational Book
from Sacramento Bee
Jeremy McCarthy, a softspoken, bespectacled young man in black Nike shoes and a River Cats baseball cap, is juggling a very busy schedule. "I work here every day," he says, gesturing around McClatchy High School's teen center for youths with disabilities. He also teaches golf, takes college music classes and plays basketball and floor hockey. He travels, dances and, in his rare free moments, enjoys watching wrestling videos. His latest project? Role model... (read more)
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